My 5 Wishes for 2012

The year 2011 produced some exciting moments for Blue Jays fans both on and off the field. The debut of Brett Lawrie, Jose Bautistas’ MVP worthy season and now a step back into time the old Blue and White colour scheme, fans across North America have been buzzing. Moving ahead to 2012 I can’t wait to see what is in store for my favourite team.

Here are My 5 Wishes for 2012 that I hope to receive from the Blue Jays….

5. 40+ Saves by Santos

Is this really too much to ask? Last season the Blue Jays recorded 33 saves while blowing a whopping 25 save opportunities. With last years bullpen problems gone, mainly Jon Rausch and Frank Francisco, Alex Anthopoulos has brought in a young Sergio Santos who completed 31 save attempts with the Chicago White Sox in 2011.

As a team the Blue Jays have recorded 42 or more saves in four of the past six seasons, the exceptions being last years horrid bullpen and a bullpen-by-committee in 2009. Of course the bullpen is much more than a closer and coach John Farrell will need consistent innings from everyone.

With a maturing Ricky Romero leading the rotation and a young talented line-up, Santos should easily be put in position to record 40-45 saves.

Prediction: Santos converts 47 saves

4. Bautista wins his MVP award

What does this man have to do to get his well deserved MVP award? At 6’0″ and 195 lbs Jose Bautista doesn’t appear to be the reigning MLB home run king. He has finished 4th in MVP voting while recording 54 home runs in 2010 and moved up to 3rd in voting in 2011.

Although there was a minor dip in his home run total due to injuries and opposing pitchers walking him a total of 132 times, there was no doubt that he was the MVP of the Toronto Blue Jays each of the past 2 seasons. We all know that home runs don’t give you the MVP award but Bautista possesses much more than that including one of the best arms in the world.

So what does he have to do to get more MVP recognition? Does he get discredited because he plays North of the border? Is it because there are so many ‘bigger’ names playing within the same AL East division? Whatever the reason has been in the past, my crystal ball shows Jose Bautista finally becoming the AL MVP in 2012.